Flickering Flames
by Emberwind8
Summary: Ember Cheddar used to being an overlooked nobody has her life turned around when she and a friend are taken by another friend to Camp Half-Blood. She discovers her identity, and now more people know her than ever. But they know her not as Ember Cheddar, but as a daughter of Hestia. Summary sucks, the story is much better, so please R/R!
1. Dragons Are Not Fun

**A/N: Hello readers! This is Emberwind8 with a new story, 'Flickering Flames'! Enjoy!**

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**I do not own the PJO series**

**Chapter One:**

My name is Embrina Marley Cheddar, more commonly known as Ember. I live in Amelia City, Florida and am currently attending Haxwyn High School. I'm sixteen years old, and only have two friends: Cat Ferris, and Glenn Kelsey. I'm a loner. No one in my school knows anything about me, or even my first name. Cat and I live only with our fathers, both of our mothers left after we were born. We've grown up used to it.

Today, Haxwyn is taking a field trip to Long Island, New York. It'll be the first time there for Cat and I, but apparently it was where Glenn grew up before Amelia City. I can't say I'm looking forward to it, from what I've heard, it's loud, and cold, and busy. I'm not used to towering buildings and cars racing across the street. Where I live, everything is quiet and peaceful.

I had to wake up at three in the morning to get ready for school. It was awful. The only good thing about this trip is the ride there. We're going by coach bus and driving for fourteen straight hours, obviously with some stops along the way for food. Too many people this would sound like torture, but I've always enjoyed long rides. I just like to sit and listen to music while watching the cities from the window. I find it calming; it helps me get away from my numerous troubles.

I dress in a green t-shirt with a sweatshirt overtop, along with blue jeans and sneakers. Wearing this during spring in Florida might give you a heat stroke, so it feels weird. My father isn't awake yet, so I leave without saying goodbye, and instead leave a note. Outside of my small house, Cat and Glenn are waiting for me. We're all neighbors. The school's in waking distance, so obviously we walk there. We're too tired to even talk to each other. It's four o'clock now, and the buses are lined up in the parking lot. Our teachers are outside, greeting everyone and placing them on a bus.

When we get up there, the bus we get on is half empty, or half full if you're optimistic, unlike me. There are three seats per row, so Cat, Glenn, and I all get to sit together. Nobody talks to us as we sit down. I can't tell if it's because they're so tired, or because they didn't even know we went to their school. I'm still too tired to talk, so I put my ear buds into my pathetic mp3 player and play some music. My father won't allow me to have anything more than that for some reason.

Before the buses have started moving, I've listened to about fifteen Beatles songs. The engine finally starts making its annoying little noises, and the wheels start turning. Cat and I exchange glances that are meant to mean something like, 'Oh look, we're leaving', or something along those lines.

It takes another three hours to become fully awake. By this point, sleeping people are waking up, and conversations are brewing. Sadly, Cat and I still sleeping, and if Glenn and I were to start speaking, she would wake up. I never sleep on anything other than a bed, and I don't see how she could possibly do that. I've found that it's a good idea not to wake her up, unless I want to be injured. Thankfully, the voices around us wake her up automatically, so no bruises this time.

"What time is it?" she asks me drearily.

"Seven o'clock," I answer. On a normal day, I would be starting school now.

"Where are we?" she asks.

"I think we're around one of the Carolinas, maybe South Carolina," I answer again. We're three fourteenths of the way there. Yay.

The next eleven hours go by surprisingly quickly, and by the time we get to New York, it's five in the afternoon, but it would normally be six in Florida. You may be wondering why we would have a field trip that late, but this is a special trip that you have to sign up to go on, and we had to pay for hotel rooms. The trip is from now until four in the morning two days from now, so we get over twenty-four hours in New York, of course not counting the time spent sleeping.

"All right everyone, we're going to go put our things in the hotel rooms, and then we're going to wander around in groups for a while! Okay?" one of the teachers accompanying the trip announces. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something in the window, but I can't tell what it is. Glenn seems to have seen it too, and looks a bit worried.

Everyone mumbles in agreement. "So where are we, exactly?" I ask Glenn.

"The town of Montauk in Long Island," he answers, "where I grew up."

"So do you know where everything is?" questions Cat.

"Pretty much. And there's somewhere you guys need to see today, it's right by here. I'll take you."

"Okay."

The bus doors open, and everyone rushes out, leaving my friends and I to get off last. As I'd expected, the streets are alight with cars, and it doesn't seem like there is any place nearby to escape the clamor. While the teachers get ready to take role, Cat, Glenn, and I sneak off to wherever the place he wants to show us is, which is apparently close enough to get to and come back without anyone noticing our absence. We hurriedly climb a tall hill to a place called 'Delphi Strawberry Service.'

"Is _that _really what we came here for?" I ask, annoyed.

"In a way, yes," Glenn answers, but still keeps trekking up the hill, until he gets to a sigh engraved with symbols that may be Latin. While looking at it again, the symbols seem to rearrange into English. So if I hadn't already mentioned, I'm extremely dyslexic, as is Cat, but what makes me different from her is that I also have ADHD. It's a lovely combination.

Suddenly, I hear a screech coming from the sky above me. We all look up immediately, and see what appears to be none other than a dragon. Yes, a dragon. And as we are looking to the dragon, the dragon looks down to us. I can see flares start to form in its nostrils, and then, see a fiery inferno blast from its mouth. Crap.

"Into the gate, now!" Glenn commands, and him and Cat dart through the gate. But I'm mesmerized by the sight, and stand still in shock. This is why having ADHD is the most wonderful, amazing thing you could hope for.

"Em! What are you doing?! Get in here!" Cat shrieks. But I just watch the flames shoot though the air to where I'm standing.

"Em! EM!" Cat screams, but it's too late. I'm engulfed by the flames. But no, I'm dead. At least, I don't believe I am. I could be, I guess. I reach out my arm, which is fully functional and has, surprisingly, not been scorched. I look at Glenn and Cat in awe, who return the same expression. Finally, the dragon lets up, and Cat runs out of the gate and pulls me in.

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**A/N: So what did you think? Like it? Review! And read my other stories!**


	2. Neither is Being Claimed

**Chapter Two:**

**I do not own the PJO series**

Behind the gate is a field of strawberries, as expected, but also what looks like a summer camp. There are 'campers' sprinting towards us and looking to the dragon, who stays, flapping its wings in the sky, not leaving, though not attacking.

"Glenn… Where are we?" Cat asks nervously. I'm still in shock from… Well… Almost burning to death, but then not. Yeah, that's probably it.

"Camp Half-Blood," he says, somewhat joyfully. So it is a camp.

"Hey… I don't know if you've forgotten, but _I almost died a few seconds ago!_" I shout angrily.

"Don't worry, that won't be the last time," he laughs, but then becomes scarily solemn. "But seriously, you should be dead right now."

"Thanks for the reminder!" I retort. "I think I have to go lie down for a few months and get this through my head."

"Same…" agrees Cat.

"There will be time for that later, but I need to get you two to Chiron," answers Glenn, "he's the camp's director."

'Chiron' as it turns out is half horse. A centaur, he had said. If I wasn't sure I was dreaming when I was attacked by a dragon, I am now.

"She's a Hephaestus," Glenn whispers to Chiron, "a Hephaestus with pyrokinesis, none the less."

"Undoubtedly," Chiron agrees. "Campers, listen up!" he bellows. "We have two new campers, and it is about time for their claiming. Gather 'round the campfire!"

Glenn beckons us to follow him to the tall, golden flames. A bunch of teens in orange t-shirts surround us. I look to Cat, who has a light coming from the top of her head. Everyone is staring at the light, and she doesn't seem to understand it's there. The light transforms again and again, turning into different objects, before vanishing all together.

"Our first new camper is Catalina Ferris, daughter of Hecate!" Chiron announces. I'm really lost right now. But now, all eyes are on me.

"What is it?" I silently ask Cat.

"It's like… Flickering flames," she answers.

Chiron, Glenn, and the other campers look around confused, as if this wasn't normal in their messed up universe. I swear, if I'm the odd one out here, my head will explode. There's a freaking man-horse for God's sake!

"What is she?" some person in the crowd asks.

"I honestly cannot say," Chiron answers.

"Could she be a… Hestia?" Glenn suggests. Everyone gapes at him like he's crazy, expect Chiron.

"I believe so…" Chiron answers. He removes the silence. "And our second new camper is Embrina Cheddar, daughter of…" he stops for a second, apprehensively, "Hestia." The campers are literally shocked. "You are dismissed!" he says, and they all go off to wherever they were before Cat and I got here.

Chiron gallops over to a fountain, drops in a gold coin, and says; "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please except my offering. Show me Zeus on Mount Olympus." That is the first name I recognize from all of things that have happened here. I guess this has something to do with Greek Mythology, then. Not that that helps me sort out anything that's happened.

In front of Chiron is an image of what I assume is Zeus. I inch closer to see what's going on.

"What is it Chiron?" Zeus demands, clearly aggravated.

"I believe we may have a child of Hestia on our hands," Chiron answers.

"Impossible!"

"I had thought the same thing when it was first suggested, but I don't understand what else she could be."

"I do not understand. Tell me everything that has happened."

"Well, one of our protectors came to the camp with two demigods. Before they entered the camp, they were attacked by a dragon. It proceeded to spit flames at the one, but when she was hit, nothing happened. It was assumed that she was a daughter of Hephaestus with pyrokinesis at the time. But when she was claimed, instead of a fiery hammer, there were small, flickering flames. The only other thing we could think of was that she was a forbidden daughter of Hestia."

Zeus is silent for a while. "I will discuss it with the others. Until then… I suppose you should put her into normal training and see what she can do."

"Yes, sir."

The image fades away, and Chiron turns to face us. "Cat, Glenn can show you your cabin. Embrina, you come with me." I'm really getting annoyed by him addressing me by my full name.

I wave to Cat and Glenn, and follow Chiron to what looks like the main part of the camp.

"Each person here has a godly parent," he informs me. "For each god, there is a cabin. Throughout the years, there have been new additions, making twenty-three cabins. But throughout all of those years, there has never been a cabin for your mother, or at least who we think your mother is, Hestia, mainly because she was never supposed to have children. Before every god was forced to claim their child when they got here, the unclaimed children were put in the Hermes cabin. But since you're a… _Special _case, you're going to be put with the Hephaestus children. Since you seem incompetent in the field of Greek mythology, I should inform you that both Hestia and Hephaestus are gods of fire, just in different ways. Because of that, you should do best in there before we can give you a separate cabin."

"Okay," I answer, not exactly sure what he was talking about. Who says flying butterflies aren't distracting to a kid with ADHD?

Chiron laughs. "I know you weren't listening. Don't worry, almost all demigods are dyslexic or have ADHD, or both." Phew.

The building we walk to, the 'Hephaestus cabin' is a metal enclosure with super-shiny walls and scraps all over the floor. Off to the side are rows of beds.

"Everyone, this is Embrina. She'll be staying here until we can find another place for her to stay." The occupants, who are all working on some sort of machine, turn to acknowledge my presence, but do nothing more than that. "The girl with the pink hair is the cabin's leader, Jupiter." The person he's talking about, Jupiter, is a girl around sixteen, tall and muscular with pitch black hair dyed partially magenta.

"And before I forget, you're going to need a camp T-shirt. I have some in the Big House, but you can get one tomorrow. You'll get all of your things tomorrow." Chiron leaves the cabin, and I'm alone with a bunch of teens working loudly on the most complicated mechanism I've seen. I take the things I'd packed for field trip and place them by an empty bed. A lot of time has passed since I've gotten here, and all that has happened has really worn me out, so I try to get some sleep. But with all of the mechanical grindings and such keep me awake until the rest of them are forced to stop hours later. But at least I get a bed.

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**What did you think? Is Ember actually the daughter of Hestia? Is this story good? What else should I add? Please review!**


	3. Fire: Need I say more?

**I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T READ ANS, READ THE ONE BELOW!**

**A/N: Haven't updated this in a while... One thing though: If you read this, I'd love to see a review! And please follow/favorite as well! This is my worst story when it comes to ratings and such, with an amazing THREE reviews and ONE follow and ONE favorite, plus A LITTLE BIT OVER SIXTY views all together. It's sad, really. So if you're actually viewing this right now, please review or PM me this one thing: What can I do to get more views using the summary feature? I've changed it so many times, always unsuccessfully getting more views. is there something missing? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!**

**Kay that's it. Happy reading!**

**(Also I don't own PJO)**

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**Chapter Three:**

I wake up from a deep sleep, ready to explore New York. But once I open my eyes and gather my senses, I realize what had happened last night. And unless the hotel I was supposed to stay at with school was a workshop, I'm pretty sure I am in the mysterious so-called Camp Half-Blood. Yay? Honestly, I'm not sure.

The rest of the members of Hephaestus' cabin get up and leave for what I have to imagine is breakfast. I follow them drearily, and I find myself in the middle of the cabins, the dining hall, I suppose. It seems that each cabin has a separate table, so I'm forced to sit with the members of the Hephaestus cabin, and I seriously think these people are even more antisocial than me, says the introvert.

"Hi! Embrina, right?" A girl sits next to me, strangely. I may have been wrong.

"Yeah… Ember, actually. And you?" I respond.

"I'm Indie! Indie June," she tells me. Yep, I seem to have been wrong. Indie is much too bubbly and social, which I'm sure will end up getting on my nerves. She looks to be about the same age as me, with unmanaged dark brown hair and bangs the cover her right eye. "You look nervous. There's no need to be, you'll love Camp Half-Blood!"

"What is this place, exactly?" I question. The matter still confuses me.

"Well, to put it simply, it's a safe haven for children of the Greek gods and goddesses. But that's not all, we don't just hide around all day, we have lots of activities, and stuff… I can't explain it very well, but Chiron will tell you." Good. I don't want to waste my time listening to her drone on about the subject.

We're served a variety of different foods, ranging from fruits, mostly strawberries, to cheese to fresh bread. And everyone is talking to their goblets.

"Ginger ale!" Indie says to hers. I guess the goblets fill up with whatever you tell it to fill it with.

"Umm… Apple juice?" As soon as I say it, the goblet fills with the golden liquid. Awesome. I look to Indie, who should've drained her glass by now, but continues to drink as much as she wants.

"Is that thing a bottomless pit or something?" I ask.

Indie thinks about it for a moment, and then shrugs. "I guess so." So either she's pranking me, or the thing really never is empty. To figure it out, I try to empty the goblet. My conclusion: It's a bottomless pit. I think I might end up liking this place.

After finishing breakfast, Chiron brings Cat and I our camp t-shirts and takes us to the armory, where we would choose a weapon.

"You can get whatever you want," he tells us. Hanging all over the walls are hundreds of weapons, including knives, swords, axes, spears and bows. Cat and I exchange a worried look, as if saying, '_we need weapons?!_' Cat chooses a pack of small bronze throwing knives, probably because they're the only things she would possibly learn how to handle. Since I'm feeling especially daring today, I take a shiny gold sword from the rack. Immediately I feel the weight of it, which is significantly heavier than I'd expected. But after rolling it around in my hands, I get a feel for the weapon. When I clutch the sword hard in my palm, fire stretches up the blade, turning into a flame sword. The only problem is that I can't get it to stop being on fire.

"Umm… I think I have a problem here…" I stutter to Chiron.

"Just stop thinking of the fire. It should extinguish right away," he explains. Stop thinking of the fire? How could I possibly do that, I'm literally holding it. Looking around the armory for something to distract me from the flaming object in my hands, I see a group of… I-don't-even-know-whats strolling around the field outside. Before I know it, the fire is out. Easy enough, I guess.

"Good. So now you need to know how to contain your weapons," he tells us. "Cat, yours doesn't do anything special, just keep them in a pouch or something. Embrina, yours transforms into a clicker. Just click it to turn it into the sword." How magical, a clicker. I tried to use one of those to train my cat, Skitty. "Since today's Friday, the Camp will be playing capture the flag," Sounds pretty fun, "so you'll need to get armor." Scratch that last thought.

We're fitted for armor, which is apparently made of a magical substance called 'Celestial Bronze'. Upon putting it on, I feel like I weigh about a hundred pounds heavier. That's never fun.

As we leave the armory, a group of what looks like every other camper, stands outside of a forest. The cheer as Chiron comes into view.

"As you all should know, it is time to play capture the flag!" More applause, the loudest from some burly looking kids who looked like they wanted to do nothing other than win this little competition. Chiron split them up into two teams, blue and red, by cabin. Cat ended up on blue. I was about to go with the Hephaestus cabin to the red team, but Chiron had another idea involving me being the center of attention for a few excruciating seconds.

"Which team wants the daughter of Hestia?" he plainly asks. The teams were already about even, so whatever team I ended up on wouldn't have any extra perks. Both blue and red stayed silent, neither looked like they wanted me. I can't blame them. "Fine, you'll just be on the blue team. They don't have anyone with pyrokinesis." I could see some people on red exhale breaths and some people on blue draw in some. I feel so loved. "Blue, you can go over the rules with the newbies while you're setting up your flag. You are dismissed."

Each team runs off in opposite directions, us to the right. Some people in the front of the group whispered plans to each other and let some others give us things to do. I just really hope this isn't like my gym class in Florida, where you were graded on active engagement, and you failed if you were that kid who never got the basketball passed to you. So really, you were graded on skill.

Someone came up to Cat and I, he said his name was Maxwell, and told us the rules: The creek is the boundary line, the entire forest is fair game, no maiming or killing, blah, blah, blah. He seemed to be the equivalent of the guys that somehow got hundred-percents in gym class, the jocks. It wasn't like I was going to even try to participate. I was also told to follow some people into the forest, apparently far away from the flag. Good idea.

As the trekked to wherever they were going, I got bored and decided to slip away and sit under a tree or something. Cat followed me silently.

I found a secluded space by a nice big tree, and sat down, putting my sword next to me.

"Ugh, I don't understand how they expect us to do this without any training," complains Cat.

"Yeah. And how are the weapons supposed to help if we aren't allowed to maim or kill?"

"Exactly. It's pretty pointless."

I heard some footsteps that signaled the game had begun. I see some of my team tiptoeing a few feet away somewhere. They don't see us. Good. We just sit there for a while, listening to battle cries and clashing of swords in the distance.

We sit there for quite a long time. Then I hear a small whisper close by. I grab the sword lying next to me, and tentatively stand up, looking behind me.

"Hello."

I spin around, clutching my sword even tighter, to find some ditzy looking blonde girl with a smirk on her face from the other team with some others behind her. It's obvious they are the 'mean girls' of the camp. Very, very, obvious. But too bad for her that I accidentally set my sword on fire from grasping it so tightly, and it ends up directly in her face when I spun. She let out a scream, probably not thinking that some new kid would be able to do that, but inadvertently flipped her shimmery hair over the sword, setting it on fire. The other girls screech in terror, but not as much as the original. She doesn't seem to be able to comprehend how to put it out, so she just runs around in circles crying out to no-one in particular.

One thing I can say is that I never expected to set someone on fire at any point in my life.

I look to Cat, who looks as if she's frozen in shock. Sure, it would be hilarious watching this on YouTube, but actually witnessing it and being the cause of it makes you feel pretty guilty and scared.

"Do you know if your mystic godly powers would be any help?" I ask Cat.

"Apparently my mom's the goddess of magic, so…I'm not sure," she stammers. "And I don't know how to use them either."

So with that we just start yelling for help, hoping someone would come to save the girl before the fire spread to her face. Thankfully, she was one of those people with outlandishly long hair, probably going down her entire back, so it was still burning up that. Suddenly, someone runs through the trees to her rescue, someone from her team. But when he sees what's going on, he literally starts cracking up.

"What is your problem?! She's on FIRE!" I yelp. He just laughs more, and beckons for another person to come. This next guy actually does something. He does have grin, but somehow summons water from who knows where, which he projects at her. The fire goes out immediately. But instead of being glad or whatever, the other girls she was with stare disgustedly at the remains of her hair, which isn't that much.

"I-Is it really bad?" she whimpers. They nod slowly. It is pretty bad though. It is only just below above her neck with charred ends. If it were me, I truly wouldn't care, but for the girl who spent years growing it out, and probably also caring about her looks, it is the end of the world. She starts sobbing uncontrollably, but then turns to me.

"You… You are so _dead_," she sniffs. Oh great. It's my first full day here and I've gotten a death threat. Reminds me of going to my cousin's birthday parties. She was this super-girly Justin Bieber loving person with a million friends just like her who hated me, but her parents made her invite me to her parties because they felt bad for my lack of friend, and my dad made me go because they thought I could make some. It was a living hell. Especially this year when she had a sleepover. Her and her friends stayed up all night talking about boy bands and other craptacular music and boys from our school who I hated. If I didn't keep my mouth shut, threats would pour from theirs. I normally just sat in a corner, listening to music, realizing how amazing of a song 'Kiss with a Fist' was.

But back to what's happening now. Looking around, I gather that this might be the weirdest scenario I've ever witnessed. So there's a girl with her hair mostly burnt off and smeared makeup glaring at me, and bunch of her friends looking at her in disgust, some guy with magical water powers, another guy literally rolling on the floor laughing, and then Cat and I. Hm.

Then I hear I huge cry. Someone just win the game. At least I get to go away from here. I start to leave with the rest of the people here, but the girl I almost killed says something.

"Wait," I can hear through her gritted teeth.

I turn around and give her a sweet smile. "Yes, your majesty?" Hey, if I get to have an enemy here, it better be interesting. At my old school, my enemies weren't almost killed by me or anything; we just hated each other and made remarks like that. This girl will become a super-enemy, one that is a mixture of normal-enemy, like the ones I used to have, and whatever-you-would-call-someone-you-almost-killed-enemy. Super-enemy.

"What's your name? I need to remember who needs to be dealt with," she demands.

"Well, my name is Embrina. Ember for short. But I'm sure you have one _much _better."

She doesn't seem to be used to being talked back to. I'd say she's usually the one doing that. "My name is Bridget. Bridget D'Amour, daughter of Aphrodite."

"No idea who that is."

She grunts. "The goddess of love and beauty, _obviously_." Really, I'm not surprised, it seems like a good fit.

"That's nice," I say dismissively. "My mom is Hestia."

Her eyes widen, and she smiles. "_You're _the daughter of Hestia? I heard about you."

Honestly, I still don't know what the big deal is about me being the daughter of someone named Hestia. If you're thinking that I'm stupid or something for not getting it, I'd love for you to explain it to me. "Cool." She just walks off with the little clique, going back to gossiping about me and worrying about her poor burnt off hair.

I turn back to Cat, who isn't there anymore. Well okay then. I guess I should go do whatever I need to do now.

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**A/N: Well that was long. DON'T FORGET WHAT I SAID IN THE FIRST A/N! I'M COUNTING ON REVIEWS AND PMS FROM YOU! But anyway, did you like it? I did, personally. It was fun to write, the end anyway. Liked this? Check out my Hunger Games fanfics that are much more popular than this!**

**'Til next time, **

**~Aoife**


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